First off, thank you to everyone who’s followed the journey so far!
This book experiment has been such a fun forum to work through creative ideas that I’ve been wrestling with.
Now one of those ideas is taking flight.
Over the next eight weeks, I’m going to be launching a 100-page prequel as a way of building momentum for my next book. To do this, I’ll be releasing one chapter per week via email. I’m serializing my first novel.
The idea of a serialized novel first took flight when I read Elle Griffin’s article, called, Could the Creator Economy Work for Fiction Writers? In the article, Elle shared several examples of authors who are making a living through serial fiction. This led me to platforms like Wattpad, Inklett, and Amazon’s Vella — Companies investing heavily in this type of fiction consumption. So I decided to take it seriously and write something to be released this way.
But that’s not all.
Because it’s a true-crime mystery, I’ll be turning this into an interactive reading experience where readers try to guess the twist. Next week, I'm going to be releasing the TITLE, COVER, and the MYSTERY CHALLENGE. Then on November 16th, I will be releasing the first chapter!
What does that mean for this newsletter?
For the next eight weeks, I’ll be turning this newsletter into the experiment in action. Once the novel is complete, I’ll come back and resume my regular author updates, which will include sharing the results of the newest experiment.
Wish me luck, guys!
If you’ve been following this newsletter, you know I’m passionate about the future of NFTs - especially as it relates to the creator economy and the publishing industry. Well, last week a group of authors launched a project, and my worst fear happened. The publishing industry rejected the idea without any larger discussion. I’ve documented the entire thing for you guys this week.
Publishing Kills NFT Project in 8 HOURS
Last Wednesday at around 9 am (PST), six NY Times Bestselling authors1 began posting about an NFT project they were launching, The Ruins of Realm.
On a shiny new website, the six talented fantasy writers explained their mission: To build a “collaborate fantasy epic with dark magic, intrigue, and unique characters.” They promised a collection of original character NFT’s and original stories. They asked users to purchase character cards, play in their world, and join them in expanding their stories by adding their own.
And that’s where things got tricky.
Like most NFT projects, the authors directed the community to congregate in Discord, a social app that is the lifeblood of NFT projects. I’ve been in a handful of Pre-Launch Discords myself, and typically, there is a general excitement and enthusiasm for the project everyone is gathered for. We want to see if this community is something we want to invest our time in. If so, we want to support and promote the project forward.
But this project was different.
The thirteen hundred or so Discord members seemed disoriented and unsure what the project was about or even what an NFT was. Others began chastising the project as a multi-level scam that exploits young writers to build out their universe without compensation. Twitter joined in the fray. Quickly, the authors were declared scam artists. There seemed to be no middle ground.
Then, at 1:58 pm (PST), the creators went into Discord and killed the project.
A new update from us, the authors: We are going to pull the plug on Realms of Ruin. We had hoped to use the fascinating and evolving NFT space to power a new kind of interactive storytelling world. INnour conversations about the project it had seemed so fresh and exciting, which is what drew us to the crypto/NFT space in the first place. But what we value above all else is our community— and that’s you. Your opinions matter, and your concerns have been heard— and as a result we no longer want to move forward with this project. We are deeply grateful for your thoughts, your feedback and your cricisicms. Thank you, as always.
Within minutes, the website was gone. The authors retracted all their social media press. The Discord server was deleted. Publishing’s first big attempt in the NFT space was a complete and utter flop.
I was in disbelief. How did a creative project by six talented authors get destroyed so quickly? And while I understand the concern with exploiting young writers, why was everyone so quick to label the entire project a scam? Shouldn’t we have taken the time to ask questions and seek to understand their intent? Or allow them to pivot or make adjustments? We were still weeks from the launch. No stories had been written, no fans exploited. At the end of the day, these creators were trying to do something completely new. They were trying to build a new way of storytelling and fandom in the metaverse. A way to empower fans and artists alike. Instead, the conversation was centered around NFTs being bad, scammy, bad for the environment, inherently evil.
NFT’s are not bad.
NFT’s are a tool.
Crypto as technology is about decentralizing power. That’s what NFT’s are doing all across the internet. Taking power away from gatekeepers and corporations and giving it back to the artists and their fans. This technology is being used by artists to build, harness. and reward their community. By offering fans digital collectibles that hold real value, both offline and online, artists become the driver of their Intellectual properties. In turn, fans get to participate in the experience and hold assets with real value.
Here’s my plea to the publishing industry— Please keep an open mind. Do some research. See what the NFT community is all about. Seek to understand. Look up projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club, World of Women, VeeFriends, and Adam Bomb. Spend some time browsing the creativity that is happening in the space. Get to know the community and the people in them. They are artists and creators, fans, and collectors, and hopefully one day soon, authors.
In its current state, the NFT space is not perfect. Not at all. But whether creative industries want to address it or not, this is part of our future. To the authors and everyone involved in this project, I applaud your efforts. Don’t stop trying new things. As we all prepare to enter Web 3.0, I refuse to accept that publishing will be left behind. We will need more brave artists and authors to take risks, even with the majority of the industry isn’t ready.
Thanks for reading! If you or someone you know would enjoy this, please share!
Marie Lu, Tahereh Mafi, Ransom Riggs, Adam Silvera, David Yoon, and Nicola Yoon
Thanks for a different take on the RoR NFT launch/cancellation. It would have been interesting to see how the idea progressed. I guess we'll have to wait for someone else to be brave enough to stick their necks out there.
I had an idea to use NFTs to create digital versions of the tokens used in my novel (it's a fantasy set in NYC where people complete Dungeons & Dragon-style quests in exchange for tokens). I thought it would be cool to give out the various token denominations and then let people exchange the tokens for swag like art prints and the like. It would be more for superfans and not as a store of value.